Supporting apparatus



Feb. l0. 1925.

J. w. EVANS SUPPORTING APPARATUS 2 She/ets-Sheet l Filed Nov. 6, 1922 \\\,.i.||v l|tlilli|inlll|l41 im lxxllllllllllllllllllllllllllll g INVENTOR John W E Vb ATTORNEY Feb. ifi). 1925.

1,525,927 J. w. EVANS Filed NOV. 6, 1922 z E o I m wr lll U '-m- U Lf m Ob D lNVENTOR dolrm W. Evans.

BY m4; 1

ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 10, 1925.

UNITED STATES I C E JOHN W. EVANS, OF RETSOF, NEW YORK.

SUPPORTING APPARATUS.

Application filed November 6, 1922.

To all lwiom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, Jol-IN W. EvANs a citizen of the United States, residing at Retsof, town of York, .in the county of Livingston and State of 'New York, have invented Certain new and useful Improvements in Supporting Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to provide an apparatus which will support bags, sacks, etc. above a moving conveyor whilel the bags or sacks are being filled without interfering with the movement of the conveyor and after the sacks are filled the apparatus will be operated to drop them onto the conveyor.

These and other objects of this invention will be fully illustrated in the drawings, described in the specification and pointed out in the claims at the end thereof.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the supporting apparatus.

Figure 2 is an end elevation of the apparatus.

In the several figures of the` drawings like reference numerals indicate'like parts.

The apparatus forming the subject matter of this invention is especially adapted for use in filling bags or sacks with salt or similar'material. The function of the apparatus is to suppo-rt the bag or sack above a moving endless belt or conveyoruntil it is filled, after which the-bag or sack is dropped onto the moving conveyor and carried away from the apparatus, making roomA for the next bag or sack to be supported thereon for filling; Heretofore it has been necessary to support the sack or bag` on a stationary platformV until it was filled and then lift the sack by hand and place it on the conveyor. This not only was a slow operation but it also required considerable strength on the part of the men who handled the sacks. It required two crews of men working alternately vwho changed olf at short intervalsrto do this same work that is now being done by only onelcrew using this apparatus in a shorter time and with less effort. p

As illustrated in the figures, the apparatus is built to straddle the end of a belt conveyor 1. This conveyor may be any one of the well-known types of belt conveyors used to convey heavy articles from one place to another. The belt conveyor shownwith serial No. 599,321.

in outline being made up of the side rails i 5 and 6 and the cross rail 7. On this frame are mounted two pairs of bearing blocks 8, 8 and 9, 9 in which the parallel shafts 10 and 11 are mounted to oscillate. ySuitably keyed to each of the shafts 10 and 11 is a section of the platform, section 12 being mounted onthe shaft 11 and section 13 being mounted on the shaft 10. These platform sections are normally horizontal at the top but incline upwardly on the bottom from the supporting shaft towardv the outer end of the platform sections.

Keyed to the end of the shafts 10 and 11 at the righthandy end of the platform are the bevel gears 14 and 15. These bevel gears are adapted to mesh with'the bevel gears 16 and 17 keyed to the transverse shaft 18. The shaft 18 is mounted to rotate in a pair of bearing blocks 19, 19 that are supported on the brackets 20, 20 formed on and projecting rearwardly from the `Cross rail 7, Also keyed to the shaft 18 is the' segmental locking dog 21. This dog has a. notch 22 formed in the periphery thereof forthe purpose of receiving the upturned end of the blade spring 23. YThis engagement of the end 0f the spring- 23 into the notch 22 of the locking dog 21 holds the shaft 18 and in turn holds the. shafts 10 and 11 with the platform sections 12 and 13 in -a horizontal position to form the platform which supports a sack or bag. e

'Mounted on the under side of theplatform extension is the depending frame 24 to which the blade spring 23 is fastened at oneend. At the other end the spring engages the locking dog 21 as above pointed out. The locking dog 21 is normally held in the position shown with the notch 22 in engagement with the upturned end of the spring 23 by the coiled spring 25. This spring is fastened at one, end to the out-- wardly projecting lug 26 formed on the dog 21 and at the other end fastened to the depending lug 27 mounted on the under side of the platform extension 28.

Projecting between the blade spring 23 and the periphery of the locking dog 21 is a crank pin 29. This crank in is carried on a crank 30 keyed to the en of the shaft 31.

The shaft 31 is mounted in suitable bearings rprovided in the frame of the apparatus and projects out on the other side of the frame whe-re it has another crank 32 keyed thereon. This last crank is connected with the lever 38 by means of a link The lever is pivoted on the frame of the apparatus at 353C and has the pedals and formed thereon one at the bottom of the lever and the other at the top of the lever so that the lever' can be conveniently operated by the foot of the operator at different elevations from the door on which the apparatus `is mounted.

In usev the apparatus is placed directly underneath a spout 35 through which the material passes into sacks to be filled. To fillV the sacks or bags aman stands at each side of the apparatus and places sacks one at a time under the spout 35. The sack is allowed to rest onl the platform and is supported thereby during' the filling' and all the men need to 'do is to prevent the sack from tipping over. Then the sack is filled the operator nearest the lever 33 steps on one of the pedals of this lever. rThis rocks the lever, moves the link 34 and turns the crank 32, the shaft 18 andthe crank 30 on the other end' thereof.` As the crank 30 rocks the crank pin 29 thereon depresses thc-end of the spring' 23 and diseng'an'es it fromthe notch 22 in the periphery of the locking dog- 21. Assoon as the end of the spring releases the locking` dog' 21 the platform sections are released with it so that the weight of the filled sack deprcsses the platform sections causing' them to swing' down and separate so that the sack drops between them onto the endless conveyor belt 1. When the locking` dog is released as above pointed out` the platform sections are released together with their bevel `gear con# nection 'with the` shaft 18 on which the lool'- ing` dog is carried and as the platform sections tilt'downwardly due to the weight of the sack thereon, the shafts 10 and 11` are turned and with them the bevel gears 14T and 15. These bevel ,e'ears in turn rotate the bevel gears 1G and 17 and the sliaft18 ou which these `gears are mountede The locking dog is thus turned so that the notch 22 is moved away from the endlof the spring' 23, and can no longer be entered by the upturned end ofthe spring. This, however is only temporary because as the locking dog 21 is turned the expansion spring' 23 .is stretched and as soon as the sack is carried away from between the platform sections this spring' pulls the locking' don` back 'to its original position and on so doing' rocks the shaft 18 in the reverse direction and turns they platform sections back into horizontal position through the bevel rear connections. When the platform has been brought back into this normal position the upturned end ofthe spring 23 can again enter into the notch 22 in the lockingdog and hold. it against movement in either directiona As will be seen 'from anv inspection of Figure 1, two of the adjacent corners of the platform sections are cut away to form a. V-shapednotchon konewside of the platform formed by these sections. rhis is to cxpedite the movement of the filled sack fron'i the platform sections after it has been depositedv onto the belt conveyor'. it has been found in practice that the rear corner of the sack when kept in frictional contact will retard the motion of the sack and. that by cutting away the 'corners of the' platform. section as above pointed outthis frictional contact between the saelf; and the platform Sections is reduced to' a minimum.

The conveyor of this apparatus is used to carry the filled lsacks to asewing,` machine by which the mouth of the sack, through yhichlitrhas been filled, .is sewed shut. For this purpose the sackmust be 'carricd'to and past the sewing` machine in an upright position. The platform keeps the sack'in this upright position' as it lets it down 'on the belt and1 delivers it to the belt and with this start the belt carries the sack in an2 up; right position to the sewing machine.' The divided platform puts the central Zone'of the bottom of the sack into contact with the moving' belt and steadies the bag oneither side as it moves forward. The bag lea-ves the' end of the platform evenly balancedso that it keeps its correct upright position as it moves away from the platform.

l claim: f 1; In a supporting' apparatus, the combination of a pair of stationary longitudinal members, a stationary cross member connecting' said longitudinal members at one end thereof, a-shaft mountedlto oscillato above. each of said longitudinal members andoparallel thereto,4 a platform section nniunted oneach of said shafts adapted to oscillate therewith, anA operating'shaftat right angles to said parallel'shafts, gearing connecting said parallel shafts with said operatingr shaft. a lockingdog carriedon the endof said operating' shaft, a spring latch adapted toenggage said locking dog', crank having' a crank pin, said crank pin adapted to engage between said spring latch and said locking' dogg', said crank pin being adapted to disengage said 'spring latch from said.lockingv dog on the rotation thereof. means for rotating; said' crank, a spring connected to said locking dos; to move said lockingv dog back int-o normal position.

2. In Va supportingr apparatus', the combination of a frame, a platform supported by said. frame, said platform being divided centrally into two sections, said sections beingn adapted to tilt downwardlyand away from each other, the corners of said sec tions being cut away at one end to form a V shaped recess.

3. In a supporting apparatus, the combination of a frame, a platform supported by said frame, said platform being divided centrally into two sections, said sections being adapted to tilt downwardly and away from each other, the corners`of said sections being cut away at one end 'to form a V shaped recess, a belt ruiming below said sections, said sections normally supporting a sack above the belt and permitting the central portion of the bottom of the sack to rest on the belt, causing the sack to move with the belt.

4. In a supporting apparatus, the combination of a frame, a pair of shafts mounted in said frame, a platform mounted on each of said shafts, a jack shaft connecting said pair of said shafts, a locking dog mounted on said jack shaft, a spring latch 5. In a supporting apparatus, the combination of a frame, a pair of shafts mounted in said frame, a platform supported by cach of said shafts, a. jack shaft connecting said pair of shafts, a locking dog carried on said jack shaft, a spring latch engaging the periphery of saidl locking dog, a crank pin projecting between said crank pin and the periphery of said locking dog, said crank pin being adapted to separate said spring latch from the periphery of said locking dog and release said locking dog.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

JOHN W. EVANS. 

